When God Intervenes

When God Intervenes
Pastor Aaron Robinson
As I reflected on what to write, Advent and its meaning stayed fresh on my mind.  The Christmas story is about us expecting something and us waiting on it to come to pass. Even as children, we waited for Christmas morning, hoping we would receive what we wanted and asked for.

As we have grown older and wiser, we have lost most of the hope we had as children because of the disappointments of life.  We don’t wait with bated breath and wide eyes like we did in our youth because we’ve learned the truth.  The truth caused us to lose sight of the meaning of Christmas.  It caused us to give up on the magic of Christmas.  

But there is a magic found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke.  Magic is defined as the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.  The story of the birth of Christ is full of magic and God’s intervening power.  These stories speak to the prophets of old declaring God’s intervening power in times of trouble and difficulties.  The magic is found in the miraculous birth of Jesus.  It is present in Joseph and Mary’s escape to Egypt with Jesus. God’s supernatural interventions are in each line of Matthew and Luke’s telling of the first Christmas.  These stories are rich with awe and wonder, reminding us that nothing is impossible with God.  

The Christmas season is about God intervening in the affairs of men and righting their wrongs against each other.  It is about God stepping in and making a change.  When God intervenes miracles happen, big and small.   The Christmas Story is about God with us (Emmanuel) and Yahweh is Salvation (Jesus).  It’s about a young teenage mother believing God could use her to change history.  It’s about a man putting aside ego and protecting what God has placed in his care.
 
When God intervenes, time is divided, and your past is placed behind you.  God’s intervening power can’t be stopped, pushed aside or overlooked.  If there is no room, God uses what’s available. If the enemy attacks, God diverts and blocks.  Angels rejoice and the Shepherds come because they know when God intervenes change occurs. Often, God will use the smallest instruments to make the biggest sound.  Mary’s little baby changed everything.  
As you open your gifts and watch the glee on the faces of those you love, remember the true meaning of the season.  When God intervenes, miracles occur.  Know that God is with us and is always intervening on our behalf.  God hasn’t left you; God is working for you and if God is with you who can overtake you?

Even now in the midst of the loss of loved ones, a global pandemic, rising prices, and racism God is still intervening.  God has not forgotten you and will never leave you.  When God intervenes, salvation occurs.  When God intervenes, healing happens. When God intervenes, death flees.  When God intervenes, joy comes.  When God intervenes, storms cease.  When God intervenes, the hungry eat.  When God intervenes, the thirsty drink.  When God intervenes, the blind see and the lame walk.
 
When God intervenes, it changes you and me.